REVIEW: Dick Whittington at South Shields Pier Pavilion

Dick Whittington

South Shields Pier Pavilion

Until Saturday 31 January 2026

A traditional family pantomime by David Foster, this production proves that heart and energy can rival bigger-budget shows. Director Kylie Ann Ford has crafted a perfectly fun and engaging family panto that gets all the essential ingredients right.

The show opens with David Foster narrating the backstory of Queen Rat (Rachel Craig), a young girl abandoned in the sewers who befriends rats after her fairy godmother's intervention. She transforms into the cruel villain that Westovian audiences love to boo, and Rachel Craig excels at drawing reactions from the crowd with every entrance.

Dick Whittington (Ella Jenkins), Captain Sealegs (Mark Lamb), and Rodger (Heather Scott) arrive in the Shields of the South just as a Mini crashes into their vessel, requiring repairs. Dick encounters the show's comic Idle Jack (Hannah Potter), the panto Dame Sarah (Gavin O'Doherty), and Alice (Emily Scott), who appear to work for Alderman Fitzwarren (Zed Carr), though their exact roles and living arrangements remain charmingly unclear.

The production includes traditional panto elements like a takeoff scene and community singing, with choreographer Helen Wilson adding a nice touch by opening Act Two with a showcase for the young dancers. The live band, under musical director Emily Palmer-Giles, injects tremendous energy into proceedings. The musical selection cleverly spans generations, from recent hits like Golden and Where Is My Husband to classics like Money, Money, Money ensuring something for everyone in the audience.

The standout performance comes from Hannah Purvis as Tommy the Cat, delivering a beautiful rendition of Memory from Cats before it hilariously becomes part of the panto's running gags. Gavin O'Doherty provides plenty of laughs as Dame Sarah, with jokes that mostly land well. The obligatory "6 7" reference gets its seasonal airing, and there's a touching tribute to recently departed footballer Izak, remembered as one of the rats.

The performance runs 2 hours 50 minutes including a 20-minute interval. Whilst not perfect—there were scuffed lines and occasional sound issues—the show radiates warmth and good intentions, making impressive use of limited space. The ensemble quickly wins over the audience, and the Saturday night Westovian crowd enthusiastically booed, cheered, and clapped throughout.

One element that needs reconsidering is the excessive strobe lighting during the takeoff scene, which doesn't enhance the action and arguably makes it almost unwatchable for some.

The true measure of a good panto is whether younger audience members engage, and this production passes that test with flying colours. A wholesome, entertaining family show that proves you don't need West End budgets to deliver pantomime magic. The Westovian Panto has launched the careers of a number of professional panto performers and it is easy to see why as the organisation understands how to nurture the format and its performers.

Review: Stephen Oliver

Tickets: 

Available at Box Office, The Word or https://westovians.co.uk/events/dick-whittington-panto/